24, April 2014

Babies born to women over 30 at accelerated risk of developing autism

Older parents are likelier to have a child who develops an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) than are younger parents, a new study has suggested.

The study from researchers from the Drexel University School of Public Health in Philadelphia and Karolinska Institute in Sweden provides more insight into how the risk associated with parental age varies between mothers' and fathers' ages, and found that the risk of having a child with both ASD and intellectual disability is larger for older parents.

In the study, researchers report that fathers' and mothers advancing ages have different impacts on their child's risk. The rise in ASD risk with parental age was greater for older mothers as compared to older fathers.

In this study, Brian K. Lee, PhD, an assistant professor in the Drexel University School of Public Health, and colleagues analyzed a large population registry sample of 417,303 children born in Sweden between 1984 and 2003, adjusted for numerous possible factors that could vary with parental age and also influence risk, such as family income and each parent's psychiatric history.

The study also used a particularly comprehensive case-finding approach, to identify more ASD cases than other studies might, based on all pathways to care in a socialized health system.

The study has been published in the International Journal of Epidemiology. 

Source: www.dnaindia.com/health

24.04.2014

Study warns kitchens may carry multi-drug resistant bacteria

Prefer spicy restaurant food over home-made delicacies? Get alarmed as hands of food preparers and chopping boards remain a source of transmission for multi-drug resistant bacteria such as E coli, a study warns.

"The spread of multi-drug resistant bacteria has been associated with the hospital setting, but new findings suggest that transmission of drug-resistant E coli occurs both in hospitals and kitchens," explained Andreas Widmer from University Hospital in Basel, Switzerland.

The findings emphasise the importance of hand hygiene, not only after handling raw poultry, but also after contact with cutting boards used in poultry preparation, he added.

To reach this conclusion, researchers collected and examined 298 cutting boards (154 from University Hospital and 144 from private households) after preparation of various meats - poultry, beef/veal, pork, lamb, game and fish - and before being cleaned.

These samples were tested for the presence of bacteria that includes Salmonella, E coli and Klebsiella.

In testing the cutting boards, researchers found that boards used in households had E coli on 3.5% of these surfaces.

They also found that 50% of the kitchen gloves were contaminated with this drug-resistant E coli.

The meat's country of origin did not play a factor in the presence of bacteria on any of the surfaces, said the study, published in the journal Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology.

Source: www.dnaindia.com/health

24.04.2014

Accept your past without regrets, handle you present with confidence and face your future without fear